M3 Max benchmarks show Mac Pro performance in a MacBook

Initial Geekbench scores for the M3 Max place the 16-inch MacBook Pro on par with the Apple Silicon Mac Pro.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max won't be in customers hands until mid-November, but someone has already begun running benchmarks. The initial results show Apple's M3 family has incredible performance.

The Geekbench score for M3 Max appeared late on Wednesday, hours after the standard M3 showed up. It is under the identifier Mac15,3, which refers to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max.

The single-core score for the M3 Max is 2,971 and the multi-core score is 20,785. Compare that to the M2 Ultra in Mac Studio, which scores 2,692 single core and 21,231 multi core.

The M3 scored 3,030 for single core and 11,694 for multi core.

Benchmarking tools like Geekbench provide scores that act as a simple reference point to compare performance metrics. Scores fluctuate slightly between runs and across different hardware due to environment, temperature, battery life, background tasks, and more.

Geekbench also can't address specific hardware systems like the Media Engine, hardware ray tracing support, dynamic caching, or accelerated mesh mapping. Extensive real-world testing will reveal more about the performance of M3 Max once it arrives in customers hands.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max starts at $3,199 while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max starts at $3,499. Shipping estimates show a November 13 or later date.